EVENTS & PROMOTIONS: ON A ROLL: STEVE RYAN

Published on March 10, 1997.

Steve Ryan's years in sports marketing, including 15 with the National Hockey League, seasoned him for the challenge of developing national marketing programs for Strike Ten Entertainment, the bowling industry's new for-profit marketing arm.

Age: 54.

Title: President-CEO, Strike Ten Entertainment, Westport, Conn.

Goal: To realize the full potential of America's last great untapped sport by executing innovative and creative marketing programs.

Opinion: Old perceptions and stereotypes can be dispelled, but only with aggressive, cutting edge ideas. Research is the most powerful weapon in turnarounds.

Insight: Society has become more complex; there are more demographic and attitudinal subtleties to take into consideration when creating marketing plans.

Fact: Fifty-two million people bowl annually. There's a perception of bowling as